Rebuilding on a budget

My mobo/cpu tanked, so I am looking at a small upgrade/replacement. I noticed nVidia rolled out with (what sounds like) nice integrated video boards on the nForce4 platform.

My question was the type of CPU to stick in. I am looking at getting the Sempron, is this like the Celeron from Intel? For me, it's not worth going with A64, because I would only be able to grab the oldest one.

What do you guys think?

BIOSTAR GEFORCE 6100-M7 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E1681 3138266)
+
AMD Sempron 64 3400+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 9104231)
---------------------------
$201.08

I don't suppose a standard ATX case will accomodate this 'microATX' style? :ugh:

Rest of specs?

Using on-board video/sound from the motherboard. The ram would just be my old 2 sticks of 256 DDR. Same mouse too... :P

I am hoping that the on-board video would be better than a Geforce 4 AGP card? Or no? :confused:

Possibly yes.


If you want onboard video, I would recommend this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 3157085

with a 3000+ to match:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1366603&CatId=1949


Not sure about the OC'ability of the mobo, but with a PCI-E slot and S939 it will give you all the future compatibility you can ask for.

The one I had listed has on-board video... and same chipset as the one you offered.

Chipsets
North Bridge NVIDIA GeForce 6100
South Bridge NVIDIA nForce 410

Or are Semprons pure crap or something?

S754 isn't all that great. S939 is where it's at, especially if it only costs you $30 more. ;)

Am I going to get screwed with the case issue? I know it's not exactly a mini-ITX board, but would a mid-size case house that micro-ATX crap?

MATX boards should fit into regular ATX cases.

matx fits into atx just fine.

but the problem about on board video it eats up ram your gonna use min 128 of your ram which leaves you only 370 which isnt enough these days.

Dang... I checked the online reviews of the chipset. It's only 'ok' for old-gen games like Quake 3 and such. All the newer games it can't even break 30fps. But that's okay, the only game that held my interest was still Tribes. As long as it can handle that, I will be happy until I get a PCI-X video solution.

Thanks for all of your help guys! :)

PRICE|PERFORMANCE

AMD OPTERON 144 1.8GHz 1Mb [CAB2E 0546 BPMW] $149.99 (http://www.tankguys.biz/opteron-cache-socket-p-1419.html?osCsid=fb6da369 0ca574fb309c8ca24400897a)
BIOSTAR TFORCE6100-939 $75.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 3138264)

HTPC|PERFORMANCE

AMD ATHLON 64 E4 3200+ 2.0GHz 512kb $162.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 9103535)
MSI K8NGM2-FID $84.00 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 3130529)

Sigh.

I don't suppose they make power supply converters? Mine does not have enough pins to fit into the new mATX board. :(

Sigh.

I don't suppose they make power supply converters? Mine does not have enough pins to fit into the new mATX board. :(
20 -> 24 pin converters? Of course they make those. A quality PSU can power a native 24 pin mobo with a converter just fine.

guys i been thinking about this same subject.. looking to upgrade to something socket 939.. but i haven't been around to read reviews on all the processors.. does anyone know of a good AMD processor roundup?

like comparisons between the new athlon 64s, semprons, opterons, clawhammers, FX cpus?

guys i been thinking about this same subject.. looking to upgrade to something socket 939.. but i haven't been around to read reviews on all the processors.. does anyone know of a good AMD processor roundup?

like comparisons between the new athlon 64s, semprons, opterons, clawhammers, FX cpus?
Dual or single core?

i'm probably looking into a single core.. unless dual core chips drop in price by the time i upgrade.. right now the cheapest dual core (X2) i can find is ~$300

as i look at it now.. the processors logically rank at the same clock speed (to me.. just from looking at cache sizes and such)

sempron < athlon64 < opteron < clawhammer < x2 < dualcore opteron/clawhammer

also.. i was looking on newegg.. i see socket 940 processors but no socket 940 boards.. do socket 940 chips fit in 939 boards? (edit: after searching pricewatch.. i see socket 940 boards are all SMP..)

Well the main question then is what you want the comp for. Gaming?

at the moment.. i'm looking to upgrade cpu/mb/ram

i have to bring to the new setup:
ATI radeon 9800 pro 128mb agp
dvd burner
2 hard drives 120gb ata, 160gb ata
case, power supply
turtle beach santa cruz pci sound card

i haven't played many games lately.. last game i played seriously was doom 3 single player.. i'm not too concerned with gaming at the moment.. but i wanted something i could at least upgrade to a nice PCI-X card and run current/future games with at least 60fps at modest settings (i'm not a graphics whore.. so you'll never see me with any kind of SLI setup). I'd say a sempron is out, since I want to use a board that's socket 939, so I can upgrade later to a dual core chip. I was just interested in what chip has been recommended lately, since I'll probably overclock it a little.

I was looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 3157081

since it will let me use my current video card.. but still be able to upgrade to PCI-X later. How would the nforce 6100/6150 onboard video compare to a 9800 pro?

Nice. Apparently plugging the 20-pin into the 24-pin slot still allows me to function. :P